Soundcore Liberty 4 NC Review vs Liberty 4 vs Space A40 - 2023's Best TWS under $100? 🤔
The Soundcore Liberty 4 NC is about simplifying, and focusing on what Soundcore thinks are more important, like having app support, multipoint pairing, and is Hi-res wireless streaming over the high-bandwidth LDAC codec.
But they’ve excluded the heart rate sensor of the Liberty 4 and they’ve now gone with touch controls instead of the Liberty 4’s squeeze controls. Also, instead of a sophisticated coaxial driver system, they’ve put in just one large 11mm driver in each earbud.
It also has battery life that now matches the Space A40 which is more than what the Liberty 4 had, up to 10 hours per charge, and up to 50 hours in total with the wireless charging case.
In short, the Liberty 4 NC is basically about keeping its focus on the features that matter. But what about its noise canceling, call quality or sound? Or its pros and cons vs the more expensive Space A40 and Liberty 4?
Active Noise Canceling
In terms of active noise canceling. Soundcore says that ANC has been improved and I do agree with that. The 4 NC does cut more noise in general compared to the Liberty 4 or the Space A40. Listen to the sound samples recorded under simulated noisy cafe conditions.
Testing its mic pickup in both quiet and noisy conditions, and some wind noise coming from a fan, I thought its mic pickup was the best among them in quiet conditions. My voice sounded very loud and very full.
In noisy conditions it didn’t sound as clean as the Liberty 4, but it wasn’t cutting out my voice like the Space A40 either. So it’s better than the Space A40, but not as good as the Liberty 4 in noisy, windy environments. Listen to the samples here.
Sound Quality
In terms of the 4 NC’s sound quality, you can expect more or less the same signature Soundcore tuning. Very V-shaped with heavier emphasis on bass and upper mids.
It does sound a little dead on its default tuning, but after going through the HearID calibration, I was able to squeeze out more vibrance from its treble which is more to my liking.
HearID just saves you a bit more time. There are other ways to improve its sound like selecting one of its many EQ presets, or to create your own custom EQ in the Soundcore app.
One thing that’s different about the 4 NC’s HearID calibration is it calibrates for both ears at the same time. That is different from the Liberty 4 and Space A40 which calibrates each ear separately. Calibrating for both ears at once is faster, but less accurate for people like me who are a little less sensitive to various frequencies on differnt ears. In my case, I am a little less sensitive to bass in my right ear, and this new system is not going to pick that up.
Comparing the 4 NC to the Liberty 4’s sound, they do sound very similar. The only difference I can really tell is that the 4 NC has deeper bass response, while the Liberty 4 sounds a bit crisper in the mids and highs.
Compared to the Space A40, the 4 NC has cleaner sound and superior track separation. According to my frequency sweeps, it also has thicker bass, although when actually using the earbuds, I do think the Space A40’s bass is comparable, probably because it seals the sound in my ears better compared to the 4NC.
Listen to the following sound samples and tell me in the comments which do you think sounds the best.
(Something else worth mentioning is that the 4 NC has this new sound compensation feature which increases the bass if the buds detect sound leakage in order to compensate.)
Pros and Cons vs the rest
Overall I like the improved ANC that Soundcore is bringing to the table, and that back to basics approach. I do have a few small problems with it though. In terms of fit, these buds are quite comfy, but it does take a bit of shifting to get them to stay seal properly for that great noise canceling.
And as of this video. its multipoint pairing is quite spotty. Sometimes it’s connected to two devices but I can’t switch the playback to another device, unless I disconnect from one first. This could be due to software, so I’m looking forward to any fixes in future.
I’m also quite disappointed with the 4 NC’s transparency. Even when activating transparency, it still feels like there’s a little noise canceling, and ambient sounds in general sound muffled even with full transparency. With voice mode you do get more vocal passthrough, but in general, it’s still not as transparent as the Space A40 or Liberty 4.
However some people are not particular about multipoint. Since you can’t use multipoint and stream in Hi-Res mode at the same time, they may choose to just leave multipoint turned off. Others may not care too much about transparency either. If so, this is definitely the more accessible option compared to the flagship soundcores.
Plus you are getting better ANC along with sound that’s about as good as the flagship Liberty 4. How does it compare to some other popular earbuds in the market? That will be in my next review, so stay tuned.
✅ To check the latest prices on Amazon, click on the links below.
Soundcore Liberty 4 NC - https://amzn.to/3UG0vlx
Soundcore Liberty 4 - https://amzn.to/4bmFB0l
Soundcore Space A40 - https://amzn.to/4dmmF3p
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